ENTREPRENEUR IN INDUSTRY USING BEST BUSINESS PRACTICES

Profits Of Pot: It's 'a Business Like Any Other'

Editor's note: Today is the second day of a three-day special report
on issues surrounding the state's rapidly expanding medical-marijuana
business, by The Montana Standard and Lee Enterprises newspapers in
Billings, Helena and Missoula, as well as The State Bureau.

Alone on the choppy and uncharted waters of Montana's medical
marijuana laws, Butte entrepreneur Glenn Erickson attempts to stay
afloat while making the industry into legitimate commerce.

Thus far Erickson, 55, admitted it has been an adventure.

"From a business standpoint, there are a lot of unknowns," he said.
"Let's be honest, there is a lot that still needs to be cleared up."

Erickson has had success doing business in Butte. In 12 years he grew
Gilligan's Tobacco Shop, located at 916 E. Front St., into one of the
state's largest single-location retailers of cigarettes, smokeless
tobacco and liquor.

Last month, in the second floor of his store, in a room that had been
previously a restaurant and bar, Erickson opened MarMed of Montana.
Before doing so, he met with Butte-Silver Bow law enforcement and the
county attorney's office. He said he wanted to make sure he was doing
nothing illegal and was operating within the confines of the law.

MarMed Butte is a place where those with medical marijuana cards can
pick up their medicine, seek advice and smoke. Any customer with a
valid card, and with MarMed as their designated caregiver, can order
anything from a single-use joint to a month's supply of the drug. A
doctor will be onsite every two weeks to speak with patients and
possibly prescribe medical marijuana.

The space resembles an Amsterdam coffee shop, replete with dozens of
varietals of marijuana kept in jars behind the bar. It is clean and
quiet and the mood is relaxed. On a warm afternoon earlier this month,
more than a dozen people gathered inside MarMed, talking and joking.
Some stepped outside onto a deck to smoke. It is open from 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. seven days a week.

"We wanted to provide a safe, secure atmosphere," Erickson said. He
said the same tenets that make his tobacco business successful -
product availability, product freshness and low prices - are what can
make him successful in the world of medical marijuana.

"When it comes down to it, it's a business like any other," said
Erickson.

But even he admits there are issues with medical marijuana that he
would not face if he were selling something more traditional, like
televisions or tea kettles.

"I'm having a hard time buying insurance," said Erickson. "No one
wants to insure this, which leaves me in a difficult position."

Erickson said security is paramount in his business plan. He wants to
make sure his plants, of which he has more than 600 scattered across
the state, are safely hidden. In the store, he wants his employees and
patients to feel secure and he wants to protect the privacy of his
customers.

Erickson hired Mark Gibbons to be the manager of the dispensary.
Gibbons, 44, has a background in landscaping and previously worked as
an emergency medical technician. He has grown and supplied medical
marijuana as a licensed caregiver for more than a year.

"We want to be responsible, legitimate," said Gibbons.

He talks to his patients regularly, and makes suggestions on certain
varieties that can help with certain ailments. He said that in his
experience, individuals react differently to different strains and
users should try a number of them to determine what works best for
their symptoms.

"My ultimate goal is to have the best strains of marijuana from all
over the world," Gibbons said.

As for Erickson, his goal is just as ambitious. He would like MarMed
to have a statewide presence, with franchises open in Montana cities
both large and small.

"I don't see why not, to have a well-known, well-respected chain of
places people can come in and know what to expect," he said.

But he sees the problems in the 2004 law, and is expecting changes
when the Legislature meets next year. Though the initiative was passed
by a 62 percent majority six years ago, it can be called vague at best
and Erickson wonders how it even got on the ballot without basic
problems being addressed.

He said there are opportunities to improve the system. He said
marijuana caregivers should only be able to operate in commercially
zoned establishments, no different than a pharmacy. He said he would
recommend more regulation of dispensaries and doing away with the
"patient-caregiver" system, which he called "silly."

"I think if you have your card, you should be able to buy from any
licensed provider," he said. "That's just good open market business."

Though he has moved conservatively forward with his business plan, he
thinks medical marijuana is here to stay in Montana. And he thinks
that is a good thing.

"I've seen a cloud of darkness shift away from people that were stuck
underground," said Erickson. "These people had social issues, physical
issues, but the stigma of being a marijuana user is going away."